Non-consumable electrode

Abstract

Disclosed is a non-consumable electrode for arc processes, comprising a housing made of a heat and electrically conductive material and having an interior to supply a cooling liquid thereinto, a yoke made of a heat and electrically conductive material, fixed on said housing and having an interior to supply a cooling liquid therein, an active insert rigidly fixed in said yoke and formed as a truncated cone whose minor base faces the portion whereon an electrode drop region of an electric arc rests and whose major base faces the cooling interior and has a recess therein shaped as a spherical segment.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An active insert for use in a non-consumable electrode, said insert comprising a truncated cone having a planar minor base and a major base defining a planar peripheral annulus and a central depression, the ratio of the thickness of said insert at the central axis thereof to the depth of the depression at said central axis being:   A=H(0.3-0.7); D+2H>d>0.8D,     wherein   A is the thickness of said insert at the axis thereof   H is the height of the cone   D is the diameter of the minor base of the cone, and   d is the diameter of the inner periphery of said annulus.   
     
     
       2. A non-consumable electrode for arc processes, comprising: a housing made of a heat and electrically conductive material and having an interior for feeding a cooling liquid thereinto;   an active insert rigidly fixed to said housing and formed as a truncated cone whose major base is shaped as a spherical segment which has a first portion in face contact with an end face of said housing facing said interior and is shaped as a spherical segment; and   the parameters of said spherical segment are determined according to the following relationships:   h=H(0.3 to 0.7); D+2H>d>0.8D,        where H is the height of the cone,   h is the Height of the spherical segment,   D is the diameter of the minor base of the cone, and   d is the diameter of the base of the spherical segment.     
     
     
       3. A non-consumable electrode according to claim 2, wherein the shape of said active insert is a trapezoidally-shaped truncated cone with its smaller or minor base remote from said housing and the wall of said cone being angularly inclined with respect to said minor base at an angle between 45° to 60°, and   the maximum diameter of said major base is less than D+2H with a portion of said major base lying in a plane parallel to a plane of said minor base.